Set Up
by benjji2795
Summary: Connor convinces Jude to sneak out to an abandoned theater at night. But when they get locked in, will they keep their cool and make it out alive?


"Hey Jude, we should totally sneak out tonight." Connor suggested to his boyfriend as they walked to theater class, Connor lugging his camera equipment with him.

"What would we even do if we snuck out?" Jude replied. Connor waggled his eyebrows. "No, Connor, not tonight!" Jude exclaimed, giggling at Connor's forwardness.

"Then I dunno. Maybe we could like, sneak into some abandoned building and film something."

"What kind of 'film' were you thinking of?" Jude asked, slightly intrigued by Connor's suggestion.

"Maybe like a 'Ghost Hunters' type of thing." Connor answered. Jude scoffed. Ghosts, right, what else would he want to do. Connor was literally obsessed with ghosts. "Would you stop giving me that 'ugh' thing every time I mention ghosts?"

"Why should I? You're cute when you're annoyed." Jude sang.

"You are literally the worst Jude." Connor groaned.

"I have no reason to deny that."

"You're lucky I love you." Connor sassed. "So, you in?" he continued with a smirk.

"You. Are. Ridiculous. Connor." Jude said, poking Connor in the chest with each word.

"Oh come one, you know you love it." Connor said, pecking Jude on the cheek as they walked into class.

"Mmmm."

* * *

They didn't sneak out that night, but Connor hadn't forgotten about it. A few days later, the two were in Jude's room, cuddling on Jude's bed instead of doing homework. Connor was doing something on his phone while Jude was dozing off.

"Hey Jude, why don't we sneak out tonight and do the 'Ghost Hunters' thing tonight?" Connor whispered into Jude's ear, rousing him.

"I thought you let that go," Jude groaned sleepily. "You really want me to do this?"

"Come on Jude, it'll be fun!" Connor whined.

"But Connor, I really don't want to."

"Please?" Connor asked, giving Jude what he knew were his irresistible (at least for Jude) puppy dog eyes.

"Ugh, Connor, do you have to do that?" Jude replied as he turned to look at Connor.

"Yes I do Jude. Now I was thinking that we should go this abandoned theater just four blocks away." Connor said, showing Jude his phone.

"Fuck off Connor, I'm not going there." Jude said tersely.

"Why not?" Connor inquired, even though he knew full well why Jude didn't want to go.

"Don't you know what happened there?"

"Yeah." Connor said calmly.

"There was a kid who got hanged there. In the middle of a show!" Jude screeched.

"I know." Connor said, smirking. "They say his ghost still haunts the building, which makes it the perfect place for what we're gonna film."

"You still think we're going to look for ghosts?"

"Yeah, I gotta prove to you that they exist. I've had enough of your doubting."

"I am not letting you prove anything of the sort."

"You're no fun at all Jude. Such a stick in the mud." Jude just stared at his boyfriend, stunned. Connor was trying to goad him into this. Of course, that wasn't the bad part. The bad part was that it was working. His resolve was crumbling.

"You know what, fine Connor. But if anything happens to either one of us, it's on your head!" Jude sighed, giving into Connor.

"Awww, babe, nothing's going to happen to you. I'll protect you." Connor said, snaking his arms around Jude's waist.

"Yeah you better." Jude replied, placing a kiss on Connor's lips.

* * *

"I still can't believe you talked me into this." Jude said, shaking his head as they walked down the street towards the theater.

"I can believe it. You're a pushover Jude." Connor said, giggling.

"Only because you're always viciously attacking me with your puppy dog eyes!" Jude protested.

"Guilty as charged." Jude shoved Connor. "Hey, it's not like you're innocent here! You do that same to me."

"As if." Jude scoffed.

"You do! But whatever, we're here." Connor said turning to the door.

The front of the theater was old and run down. Decorated in the style of an old theater of the 1920's, there was a shuttered ticket booth between two sets of gold colored double doors, all the glass still intact. The entire entry way was rimmed with row after row of popcorn lights (A/N: idk what they're called exactly and I'm too lazy to look it up but that's the name that came into my mind), most of the bulbs broken. And above them was a white display that was used to announce the shows, still announcing the last production ever held at the theater, _The Gallows._ The whole thing gave Jude chills. He moved closer to Connor, clinging to him tightly.

"Connor, I'm scared. Let's just go, please?" Jude begged.

"Can we at least look inside?" Connor sighed. "Like two steps in, look around and then we can leave." Jude shook his head. Connor gave him the puppy dog eyes again. "Please?"

"Okay!" Jude groaned. "But not for long."

Connor stepped forward, dragging Jude with him (Jude refused to let go of him), swinging the door open towards them and taking a step inside, letting the door click shut behind them. The inside of the theater was surprisingly well-lit (they didn't need a flashlight or anything like that to see), containing row after row of red-felt covered chairs. The stage curtains had been left open, one lone spotlight still shining, lighting up the "gallows" still standing in the center of the stage. It was quiet; there was no buzzing coming from the speakers, no hub bub coming from backstage; just completely silent. To Jude, the inside was probably creepier than the outside.

"Connor, let's get out of here." Jude said, tugging at Connor's arm and pulling him towards the doors. Connor turned and followed, placing his hand on the door and pushing. But the door wouldn't budge. Grabbing the bar on the door, Connor pushed and pulled, trying to shake the door open, but still it remained closed.

"Connorrrrrrrr!" Jude whined, throwing his arms around Connor and burying his face into Connor's chest, trying not to panic.

"It's going to be fine Jude." Connor said, rubbing Jude's back as he fished into his pockets for his phone. "Shit." Jude jumped.

"What?" he screeched, the sound muffled by Connor's shirt.

"Nothing big, just forgot my phone is all." Connor said soothingly. He was starting to feel back about forcing Jude to come. He seemed really freaked out right now. Jude moved one of his arms (and only that arm; the other remained tightly wrapped around Connor) for a moment, reaching into his jeans, pulling out his phone and handing it to Connor.

"Hmm." Connor murmured, tapping the screen and bringing the phone up to his ear. A second later he brought his arm back down.

"What's wrong?" Jude said timidly.

"No signal." Connor said matter-of-factly.

"What about the other doors?" Jude asked, his voice getting higher in pitch as he fought off the tightness rising in his chest. The shuffled over along the back row of seats to the other set of doors, only to find that those doors had been shuttered from the inside.

"Well that was stupid." Connor commented on the decision to board up the doors from the inside.

"We're trapped." Jude sniffled.

"No we're not. At least I don't think so. There's got to be some back way out of here." Connor said, noticing that his shirt was starting to feel damp. Connor pulled Jude away from his chest (with considerable effort), grabbing his chin and tilting his head up so he could look Jude in the eye. "I promise I'm going to get us out of here okay? Don't worry." Connor assured, pulling Jude into a kiss. "Now come on." Connor continued, wrapping an arm around Jude's shoulder and pulling Jude tightly into his side, leading him down the left side aisle of the theater towards the stage.

The lights suddenly went out, and Jude let out a high-pitched scream. Staying calm, Connor pressed a kiss to his cheek to comfort Jude as he reached into his back pocket, pulling out a flashlight and turning it on.

"Jude, pull out your flashlight and turn it on." Connor instructed. Jude didn't move, only whimpering. "Jude, I can't have you freaking out on me right now." Connor said firmly.

"If you didn't want me freaking out, you shouldn't have brought me here!" Jude snapped.

"Yeah, I get that, and I'm sorry, but I need you to stay calm now." Connor replied.

Jude didn't reply as he pulled the flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on. Or at least he tried, but no light came from his, and Connor's flashlight was getting dimmer by the second.

"That's weird. I swear I changed the batteries in these before we left." Connor puzzled. Jude whimpered again, gripping Connor so tightly Connor thought Jude was going to suffocate him.

"Jude!" he gasped. "Stop squeezing me so tight."

"Well I'm scared Connor! And holding onto you is about the only thing keeping me from having a full-on panic attack!" Jude fired back.

"Jude, I promise I'll make all this up to you, please just relax!" Connor implored.

"I'm not going to relax until we get out of here!"

"Well how do you suggest we do that if we can't see?" At Connor's question, the spotlight flickered back on, providing just enough light that Jude and Connor could see the path to the stage. Connor began moving towards the stairs leading up to the stage, but Jude stood frozen to the spot, staring at the gallows on the stage.

"L-l-look Connor." Jude said barely above a whisper, pointing at the gallows.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Connor asked, walking back over to Jude.

"The shadow." Jude hissed. Connor turned to look. The gallows themselves were empty, but were casting a long shadow onto the black curtain separating backstage and center stage.

"Holy fuck." Connor muttered under his breath. The shadow being cast by the gallows contained a limp figure, hanging from the noose even though there was no one there. Then the spotlight went out again, leaving them in the darkness again. Jude reached out to grab onto Connor, but only managed to grab the air.

"Connor?" he blubbered. But he heard nothing in response. "Connor!" he shouted, beginning to feel hysterical. The lights came back on in the theater, revealing that Jude was all alone. Connor was nowhere to be found. "Nononononono this is not happening." Jude muttered, his breathing quickening as he began sprinting towards the stage. He quickly ascended the stairs, taking them three at a time, stepping onto the stage. All the lights went out again except the spotlight shining on the gallows.

"What are you doing on _my_ stage?" a voice bellowed, causing Jude to squeal.

"I-I-I was j-just looking f-for m-m-my boyfriend." Jude squeaked out feebly, hunching over and trying to make himself as small as possible. "We got l-locked in and w-w-we're just t-trying t-t-to get out. We didn't m-mean to disturb you." Jude continued, pleading with what he assumed to be a very angry ghost.

"And why should I let you go?" the voice asked.

"P-p-please." Jude whimpered, barely audible, before he went silent, unable to speak. He fell to the floor, curling up into a ball and sobbing.

"Wait, wait guys, hold up! Turn the lights back on!" Connor shouted from backstage, his voice shaking as he sprinted out onto the stage to where Jude was a weeping mess on the ground. "Jude, I'm so sorry, it was just a joke." Connor whispered, picking Jude up and pressing him close to his chest.

"It wasn't funny, Connor!" Jude cried into Connor's shirt, clearly angry but not making any move to separate himself from Connor. "Why would you scare me like that?"

"I didn't want to scare you, honest! I just wanted to give you some 'proof' of ghosts." Connor protested.

"So you set me up?"

"I—yeah." Connor admitted sadly. Jude wanted to stay angry at Connor, he really did, but Connor did seem pretty upset and his apologies sounded genuine, so Jude decided to let it go, deciding that he'd rather have Connor there to comfort him. But he was still curious as to who helped Connor run the scheme.

"Who helped you do it?" Jude asked.

"I had Taylor, Daria and Cade helped me."

"I'm going to get you fuckers all back, somehow, some way." Jude shouted, hopefully loud enough for the rest of them to hear. His voice returning to a whisper, he looked at Connor. "Now please just take me home Connor." Jude said before burying his head in the crook of Connor's neck, making Connor carry him the whole way home.

* * *

"Good night Jude." Connor whispered, laying him down on the bed when they got back to the Adams-Foster house, and turning to go home.

"Please don't go." Jude croaked, yanking at the hem of Connor's shirt.

"I can't stay. I'll get in trouble for sneaking out!" Connor exclaimed quietly. Jude pouted (his version of Connor's puppy dog eyes) and Connor slowly made his way back to the bed, tossing off his shoes and getting in bed next to Jude, who immediately snuggled into his side.

"Good night Connor. I love you. PS this isn't over." Jude whispered in Connor's ear before his eyes fluttered shut and he fell asleep. Connor chuckled.

"I love you too Jude." he said before closing his eyes, falling asleep comfortably cuddled up with Jude.


End file.
